


It's Cold Outside

by Sablewick



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Cold Weather, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 02:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6138613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sablewick/pseuds/Sablewick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Mako breaks down in the middle of a blizzard and Shepard and Kaidan keep themselves warm the best way possible.</p>
<p>In other words, if this Mako is a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Cold Outside

**Author's Note:**

> I've de anonned because I finally finished this prompt off after... 3 years...
> 
> Thank you to the original OP. I hope the rest of you enjoy as the OP is probably no longer in fandom.

"Normandy to...ty. Normandy to Shore party. I repeat, Wrex retr...and is...board. Blizzard....too intense...ckup. Grounded until.....notice. Don't go outside.....sundown. Temperatures hit....you will freeze to d..... I repeat, ....eeze to death. Stay in the....MAKO. Joker....t."

Kaidan flipped the switch to reply, but stopped when Shepard placed a hand on his arm.

"Forget it, Kaidan. They can't hear us, the relay unit is busted." He slowed the MAKO to a crawl to navigate his way down a slope, but even the MAKO's incredibly grippy tires slipped and slid on the icy rocks, speeding their descent. They both jerked forward violently when they hit level ground again. "If we find a sheltered area before the sun goes down, I'll jump out and have a look."

Kaidan looked through the gun periscope dubiously. "Not much chance of that, Commander. I think the sun has already gone down." He glanced down at the navigator. "And we're travelling across an ice flat."

Shepard turned and mock glared at him. "Thanks for that, Lieutenant." He zoomed in on the minimap to get a better reading on the topography of their location. He was driving blind by this point, the snow having blocked out the remaining sun light and the MAKO's flood lights doing nothing to improve the situation. "Any sign of the Thresher Maw?"

Kaidan swept the surrounding area with the scanner, knowing it had minimal chance of picking up anything useful. "I'm pretty sure we killed it with that last shot, Commander. Or at least injured it enough that it won't manage to follow us for a while." Its screams had been more in pain than anger as it'd slipped back beneath the surface of the ice. "Although I can't say I've had much experience with these things."

Shepard chuckled briefly. "First attack, Alenko? You keep a cool head on your shoulders for someone who's never had a great big acid spitting worm chasing after them before." He clapped Kaidan on the knee. "Nice shooting, by the way. You saved our arses out there."

"Thanks, Shepard." Kaidan smirked. "I thought I did pretty well. Especially considering your driving."

"Hey!" Shepard jabbed him in the ribs beneath one of his armour plates. "Exceptional circumstances. And you didn't even throw up this time."

Kaidan laughed, hoping Shepard couldn't hear how forced it sounded. "Ok, I agree, last time was way, way worse."

The cabin settled back into a tense silence as the last edges of daylight slipped away and they became fully reliant on the MAKO's navigator to guide them. Joker's message came through again, more garbled than the last, and the flashing warning lights on the dash suddenly felt far more ominous than they had done in daylight. If the sensors were off by even the smallest amount then they were screwed.

"I don't think we're making it back to base tonight." Shepard said, after the MAKO's hull gave an ominous creak. The cold was shrinking the metal and ice was beginning to build up on the surface. If you blocked out the sound of the engine you could hear the cracking and shattering of the icicles that were forming above the tires being torn off whenever the vehicle jerked up and down.

Kaidan did a quick check of the map and monitored the readings for a couple of minutes. "We've only got another 30 k's until we're back at base."

Shepard shook his head. "Over uneven terrain it'll be more like 50. And we're barely going 10 kph as it is." He struggled to steer through a bank of snow, slipping sideways and using the thrusters to get them up and going again.

The MAKO groaned. Then the engine stuttered. It gave out a couple of seconds later and the MAKO crawled to a stop.

"Well." Shepard flipped switches, shutting things off and closing down the computers. He left the locator beacon on and pumped the heaters up. "That's it then. We have 14 hours of absolute darkness then 2 hours before the Normandy is going to be able to look for us. Maybe an hour to find us, depending on weather conditions." He unstrapped himself from the drivers seat and hauled himself over into the back, pulling emergency gear out of the storage netting and cluttering up the tiny cramped space. "I'm betting the electronics are going to freeze before half that time is through, we need to make sure the cabin can maintain as much heat as possible."

"On it, Sir." Kaidan took one last glance out at the swirling snow through the periscope before locking it away. It would likely freeze to the hull in an hour or two leaving them with no way of looking out into the world beyond.

It was just him and Shepard.

In their teeny tiny cabin.

For 16 hours.

Kaidan leant sideways in order to avoid being kicked in the face as Shepard's booted foot finally followed the rest of him into the back seat.

Yeah. He could see this going oh so well.

He sighed heavily, then began checking the interior hull for damage.

***

There were three big cracks that were going to cause potential problems. One where the door seal had shifted, one down in the foot well, and one beneath the steering column. The wind was blowing straight across the nose of the MAKO and if you sat still in the front you could feel the freezing wind funnelling through the vehicle. The heat from the air filtration system was going a long way to counteracting it, but they'd lose that along with the electronics and would probably lose the electronics faster as a result as well.

Kaidan had done the best patch job he could manage but there was only so much you could do with limited medigel and electrical tape.

Maybe the wind would settle down enough that the snow could start to build up and give them some extra insulation. Running out of air would only become a problem if they were stuck for days, after all.

Kaidan wondered how barmy he'd go if that happened.

It wasn't the space issue, because really, years of living on stations and ships had trained that out of him. It was more the lack of space combined with the overwhelming presence of his alarmingly attractive CO. Who somehow managed to be both an incredibly competent Alliance Soldier and an adorably ridiculous tool at the same time. Something which Kaidan found difficult to resist.

If Anderson had still been running the ship Kaidan...well, he probably still wouldn't have done anything about it, but he'd be working up the courage to ask instead of shutting Shepard down every time the guy tried to start a conversation.

As it was, Kaidan was getting an extreme amount of practice in the art of repression and his poker face was going to be legendary if he managed to survive his tenure on the Normandy.

He wasn't really sure what Shepard thought of him, but Kaidan was aware of the fact that he came across as fairly unsociable even when he was trying not to be so there wasn't much chance Shepard had picked up on Kaidan's feelings. Shepard still approached him with the same wary hopefulness, anyway. He never pushed, and never tried to fish for information. Just waited for Kaidan to accidentally ramble.

And now Kaidan no longer had even the pretense of work to get him out of talking. The hours ahead were beginning to look like a wasteland of stilted conversation. Or potentially a minefield of unintended emotional divulgence. It could go either way.

He wondered how much time he could kill by sleeping.

"I think we can probably set up back here to sleep," Shepard said. "We've got heat reflective blankets but it'll be warmer than if we slept separately."

Kaidan glanced into the back which now had far less room than before due to the fact that Shepard had pulled everything out of storage. He was assessing the area around himself, (probably calculating the space requirements) and clearly his brain hadn't yet caught up with his mouth.

"If you want me jumping into bed with you, you'll have to buy me dinner first."

And Kaidan thought he fell into conversational traps.

There was a rustle from the back and then Shepard leant over the back of the seat holding up two MREs. "Do you want Singapore noodles or chicken curry?"

Ok, yeah, walked right into that one.

Kaidan took a swing at Shepard's smirking face, then snatched one of the beige packets out of his hands, looking at it dubiously. "Is that all there is?" He wasn't sure he was hungry enough yet. MREs were always either too bland or had so many preservatives that you felt like you were well on your way to being pickled.

Shepard shrugged, dropping the other meal onto the seat beside Kaidan. "There's also beans and chili but I don't think either of us would appreciate you eating that."

Kaidan snorted as Shepard disappeared again. "I think we need to have words with whoever is in charge of supplies."

"Quit complaining and heat them up, I know chicken curry is your favourite."

Kaidan cracked the seals on the MREs and set the on the floor. When had he and Shepard discussed food?

"How do you even know that?"

"You mentioned it." There was silence for a minute and then Shepard came crawling back into the front, folding himself practically in half in order to twist himself back into his seat. He'd removed some of the bulkier pieces of his armour and Kaidan suppressed a groan at the sight of Shepard's lean body encased in only a pressure suit, his muscles flexing and rippling beneath the material.

He was going to have to do something about this little problem next time they made it to a populated planet. It really was ridiculous, Kaidan never got like this over men anymore. The last time it'd happened was when he was in his early 20s. But he seriously couldn't go around lusting after his commanding officer. Not when each little spark of attraction was followed up by a twinge in his gut and the sudden desire to grin like a lunatic. He knew what that was and there was no way he was going there.

Kaidan stared resolutely down at their food steaming away on the floor and tried to pick up the conversation again. "I mentioned it?"

Shepard nodded, ripping open the packet of crackers that had come with the MRE. He offered one to Kaidan. "In the first week or something."

"Good memory." Kaidan shoved the entire cracker into his mouth.

Shepard smiled. "Sometimes."

Kaidan concentrated very hard on determining just when that next shore leave was likely to happen.

The ten minutes it took for the meals to heat up followed by the five it took to down them was a sufficient length of time in which to determine that the front seat was not going to be a viable option.

There wasn't enough insulation left in the Mako's shell to hold warmth and Kaidan had a feeling that the remainder was slowly being eaten away by Thresher Maw acid.

"We really should've gotten out and checked the hull before it got dark." Kaidan muttered as the gap near the door opened up again.  
Shepard shrugged. "I'm pretty sure, considering the state of the interior, that it wouldn't have done us much good." He reached over and grabbed the electrical tape, tore off a couple of strips and sealed it up again. "What I want to know is how the front of the Mako managed to sustain more damage than the back. I could've sworn we spent more time running away from the damn Thresher than towards it."

"What's the definition of ‘away' again, Sir?" Kaidan deflected the role of tape that came flying at him and then grabbed Shepard by the wrist to avoid being hit. "You're such a maniac. Did you think charging it would send it packing?"

Shepard shoved him. "Hey, who's the one with the Thresher Maw experience here? I was trying to give you a clean shot."

Kaidan let Shepard pull away again, very aware that this was not really a joking topic and seeing very clearly how much effort it was taking for Shepard to brush off his own statement and continue.

He'd been like this after they'd found Kahoku's men as well, nervous and jumpy and constantly struggling to keep a conversation going. Kaidan wasn't absolutely sure, but he had a feeling that Shepard hadn't done much sleeping during that time either. He'd been up on the bridge with Joker sitting in the copilot seat every time Kaidan had gone to look for him, and he'd never seemed to be able to catch him on his own; he'd always been hanging around someone else.

Given how edgy he was looking right now, Kaidan had a feeling that Shepard wasn't going to accept going to sleep on his own, just because it would mean that he would have to be awake on his own a bit later.

"Come on." Kaidan gave Shepard's arm a tug and then turned around to crawl over into the back. "We'll hole up in the back and get our sleep in before the heating goes off, that way we'll be awake later on to monitor how cold it's getting and do something about it instead of dying in our sleep."

Shepard chuckled. "So you are hopping into bed with me."

Kaidan felt the familiar twinge just beneath his ribcage and fought to keep his voice steady. "Well, you did provide dinner." He wondered if this was technically considered flirting or whether the fact that Shepard was probably currently afraid of sleep cancelled it out.

He began stripping his armour off and tucking it down next to Shepard's, trying not to think about what he was doing or what was going on. Because he was stripping down so he could sleep with his Commanding Officer.

Not that Kaidan was really worried about that part, it was more the fact that he was about to curl up with one of the best friends he'd ever had and it was the strangest and most beautiful thing to be organising his space with this person and being able to touch and move together as they laid down and wrapped themselves in the sleeping bags; feeling Shepard breathe and shuffle and rock against him as he tried to get comfortable.

Kaidan found himself tucking his arm around Shepard to hold him still before he even really thought about the action, and once he'd done it he couldn't very well take it back without it being weird, so he left it there, thankful that Shepard didn't seem to think anything of it.

"Thanks, Kaidan." Shepard said quietly. His hand settled over Kaidan's, gripping it tightly for a moment. "I know you don't...I mean...I'm not.... You don't..."

Kaidan tugged him closer, rubbing his thumb along Shepard's ribs. "It's ok, I know." Sometimes you needed to be held just to know you weren't alone, and sometimes you had to make do with whoever was available at the time.

Shepard sighed heavily, his body finally beginning to relax. "Thanks, Kaidan."

***

It wasn't exactly the most restful sleep that Kaidan had ever had. Ok, can that, it was probably the least restful sleep he'd ever had. At first, anyway. They kept waking each other up; kicking each other, snoring, and shifting to get comfortable. Kaidan spent some time lying there thinking and hoping and trying desperately not to have any kind of physical reaction to the warm body pressed up against him.

The smell of him and the sound of his breathing would've been enough to get him started on a normal day, feeling the back of Shepard's shaved head graze his nose every now and again and having Shepard's body tucked up against his own was an exquisite form of torture. He kept want to stretch out and press forward, and he wanted to run his hands up Shepard's chest and down over his stomach.

And you know, grope him, make him moan, make his heart beat faster and his breath come short and quick. He wanted to roll Shepard over and lie with him chest to chest. He wanted to see him lose control and stare into his eyes as it happened. And he wanted it to be with him, he wanted Shepard to want him.

So yeah, he spent some time trying not to think about that, and failing. Miserably.

It helped to think about the possible reactions Shepard might have and considering the majority of scenarios Kaidan had come up with ended with Shepard never wanting to be anywhere near him ever again that ran just as well as a cold shower. Shepard was someone he couldn't stand to lose. It was torture being so close with no hope, but it was better than being nowhere near him ever again, to lose his trust and faith and friendship. He couldn't handle that. He wasn't going to give Shepard up.

He spent some time coming to terms with his feeling and thought about waiting out the attraction because surely it would die down eventually. That's what happened anyway, right? The want would fade and he'd just be left with a friend he truly cared for. He just had to stop cataloguing all of Shepard's silly reactions and expressions and the way he walked and fought and handled his guns and oh God, he was in way worse than he'd ever thought he could be and how was he only just realising this? Why didn't he know this about himself? How did he ever let it get to this point?

He was almost afraid of his own subconscious and it's ulterior motives and what he might accidentally do to Shepard in his sleep, but the fear was unwarranted, of course, his own self control ran deep. He'd trained himself very well after BaAT and the whole thing with Vyrnus. Rahna's rejection had made sure of that.

He'd let himself continue to run his thumb up and down Shepard's lower ribs every time he startled awake, for whatever reason, because it seemed to calm him down and help him drift off again, but that was as far as he was going to let himself go. That was almost more intimate than he could handle. He didn't want Shepard to know that the guy he was so innocently shacked up with was lying there fantasising about him.

It took a while, but the warmth they'd created in their little cocoon and the rhythmic sound of the wind battering against the Mako's hull eventually began to lull Kaidan to sleep. He found himself relaxing properly and drifting off, content to just have Shepard there with him, needing him, for now.

And then, then it was the best sleep he'd had in a long time.

The next time he woke up, it was to find that Shepard had turned over at some point in the night and tucked himself up under Kaidan's chin, his face mashed into the side of Kaidan's neck. It was awkward, and not entirely comfortable, especially when Kaidan realised that Shepard basically had him pinned, lying mostly on top of him and clinging onto him for dear life.

Kaidan gently tried to extricate himself from Shepard's grip, but Shepard was having none of it. He just clung to Kaidan more desperately, his fingers digging into Kaidan's skin.

He was having a nightmare.

"Hey, Shepard." Kaidan ran his free hand down Shepard's ribs, trying to get some leverage. Shepard jerked away from it, pulling himself further up Kaidan's body, digging his knee into Kaidan's thigh. "Shepard, come on buddy. You need to wake up."

Shepard mumbled at him, the words lost against Kaidan's chest. He gripped Kaidan's shirt and pulled, stretching the fabric.

"Shh, come on." Kaidan felt Shepard freeze above him. "Shepard?"  
He'd stopped breathing.

Kaidan placed a hand over the fingers that were still clinging to his shirt.

Shepard pulled away, sharply, cursing. The sleeping bag went with him and Kaidan was suddenly wide awake.

It was freezing!

He stilled the urge to just pull Shepard back down on top of him and huddle up again. He waited, listening to Shepard breathe. He turned his omni tool on making them both squint.

"Nightmare?" Kaidan said.

Shepard turned away, breathing heavily. He ran a hand over his face and then over the back of his head. He groaned. "Fuck, it's cold," he said. But it didn't sound like that was what he wanted to complain about.

Kaidan agreed. He gave Shepard's elbow a tug. "We've still got hours until the Normandy can do a pick up. Stop wasting all the heat we generated and get back down here."

Shepard turned back around but he wouldn't meet Kaidan's eyes. He shuffled a bit and tucked the sleeping bag over his head as he draped his arm over Kaidan's chest and buried his face back in Kaidan's shoulder. "Is this you sweet talking? Because you fail at it."

Kaidan tried to keep his breathing slow and wrapped his arms back around Shepard's torso. "I don't really get the opportunity to practice." Kaidan grimaced, thankful it was dark. Really? "I'm on a ship with limited options and not a lot of shore leave." That just made it sound worse.

He could feel Shepard smiling against his chest.

"Oh well, that's a shame." Shepard said.

Kaidan let his head tilt so that his chin was resting against Shepard's stubbly head. "You're an arsehole." He mumbled, feigning sleepyness. The flirting again. Was it flirting? Shepard seemed to pull it out whenever he wanted to divert Kaidan's attention. "Are you going to sleep again?"

Shepard didn't answer.

Kaidan pulled Shepard in closer. "You can tell me about the nightmare."

Shepard sighed heavily. "You and every military psychologist want to hear that one."

"Sorry."

Shepard had probably been grilled over and over after Akuze to make sure he was sane.

"And it's not very much fun." Shepard pulled away again suddenly, then seemed to remember the cold and flopped down again. "How did you end up so balanced, anyway?"

Kaidan felt the dig in that statement. He wasn't balanced. He was a loner who didn't really get close to anyone and probably never would. People got attached to him far easier than he got attached to anyone else and he was always surprised how quickly people trusted him.

Yeah, he'd dealt with his childhood demons, but that didn't mean he wasn't influenced by them. Kaidan shifted uneasily. Why was Shepard getting so cagey?

"Did Anderson tell you to talk to me?"

Kaidan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "No?" Had Anderson done that to him before?

Shepard relaxed a little.

Kaidan let his hands rest against Shepard's ribs again. "Sometimes I just wish that offer was on the table for me, so I thought I'd offer. Nothing I could say would make it better, but sharing the burden sometimes helps."

"You get nightmares, Kaidan?" Shepard asked.

Kaidan suddenly felt great reluctance to actually divulge any of what he dreamed about. And a little bit cranky at himself that he'd talked himself into that corner. Exactly how Shepard had probably just felt.

"The Thresher acid literally melted their flesh off, you know." Shepard's fingers found the fraying seam in Kaidan's shirt and started tugging at it idly. "It ripped through them and then their bones would start disintegrating. One second it was my squad in front of me the next they were a pool of sizzling mess going through the floor. Abrams with his legs reduced to spindles and his arms melting underneath him as he tried to claw his way out." Shepard shuddered. "I mostly see myself melting. I dream not all of me is there. My arms coming off when I'm trying to open a door. Or suddenly I can't move and I look down and my body is gone."

Kaidan swallowed, saliva thickening around his tongue as the nausea pressed at the back of his throat. It was only a small step in the imagination to see himself and Shepard suffering through that. It could've been them.

"Every time I face one the blind fear is a little less." Shepard turned his face into Kaidan's chest again.  
Kaidan wrapped a hand around the back of Shepard's neck, scratching gently. He wanted to kiss him and hold him and smother him in affection. But he also didn't feel comfortable providing that form of comfort. He settled for poking fun at him instead. "So that's why you were driving in circles."

Shepard thumped him one but Kaidan knew it coming and held him tightly trying to stop him from gaining leverage. Shepard struggled with him, trying to hit him again.

"Stop it," Kaidan got a leg over the back of Shepard's knees. "I have bruises from the seat belt you know. You nutcase."

Shepard started laughing but it was an odd sort of laugh and then Kaidan panicked because he realised it wasn't laughter at all, Shepard was crying.

He changed tact, bundling him in close and holding on tight. Shepard struggled half heartedly before giving in and tucking his arms underneath Kaidan so he could hold on as well.

They stayed like that until Shepard calmed down again. Kaidan panicking quietly as he tried to figure out how to fix the situation. He had a feeling that Shepard had never actually dealt with any of it at all and had gone straight from shock to denial and then forced himself to forget. Being chased down by giant acid spitting worm was scary enough on it's own, having to deal with it on top of a whole bunch of traumatic memories made it infinitely worse.

Shepard raised his head and wiped his nose against his own shoulder. "You're an arsehole."

Kaidan didn't deny it. "I'm sorry. Are you going to spend the next couple of weeks hiding out in the cockpit with Joker again?"

"You noticed that, huh." He didn't seem too worried that he'd been found out.

They lay in silence, Kaidan listening to Shepard breathe. Eventually his muscles relaxed and his arms became limp and Shepard's body took on that heavy quality that meant he'd finally fallen back to sleep.

***

The next time Kaidan awoke it was because his omni tool had started flashing to let him know there was an incoming call. He was confused, even more so when Shepard grumbled at him, he couldn't quite get his mind ticking over. Despite being bundled up with Shepard, he was cold, his limbs were heavy and his throat felt raw.

He answered the call.

"Kaidan!" Joker's voice prodded him towards wakefullness. "Sorry guys," he said, apologising to the rest of the crew Kaidan could hear in the background. "No joy riding around the galaxy, they're alive. You guys are still alive, right."

Kaidan tried to answer but his throat was so dry that he could barely croak a yes. He was going to be laid up with a cold. But worse was the pixelated aura creeping over his vision signalling the onset of a migraine.

He started prodding Shepard to get up.

"We're here, Joker." He cleared his throat hoping for something more than a whisper. "Come get us out. How long?"

"You're under a bit of snow. Hang tight, we're working on it."

Shepard shifting around, stretching as much as he could manage without throwing the sleeping bag off. He hoisted himself up onto his elbows. "How much snow?" He mumbled, letting his head drop so his forehead rested against Kaidan's collarbone.

"Well, a lot of snow, actually." Joker said. "Just be glad that the Normandy has such excellent sensors or you'd be having a hell of a lot of fun trying to dig your way to the surface."

Kaidan switched the com off again preparing to face the cold so he could get suited up again, but Shepard snuggled back down again, tucking his hands beneath Kaidan's shoulders.

Kaidan' prodded him. "It'll be warmer if we get up and start moving."

Shepard ignored him.

"C'mon, we've got to get suited up." And more to the point, Kaidan had to find his medication. If he took something now, maybe he wouldn't be laid up for the rest of the day with a migraine.

"They've got to move the snow, Kaidan." Shepard grumbled at him. "They'll be ages yet."

"Ten minutes, more like." Kaidan gave him a shove. "C'mon."

Shepard gave a deep sigh. "Do you always shove your partners out of bed so fast?" He pushed himself up and turned to the storage racks, cursing the cold as he pulled his armour down.

Kaidan felt stung, and not just from the freezing air that swept his body as Shepard's warmth left him. He knew it was in jest, but for some reason Kaidan was struggling to brush it off. He shivered violently.

Shepard's omni tool lit up as he turned to pass Kaidan his gear. He went to say something, but then he stopped, his eyes paused on Kaidan's chest before flickering carefully up to Kaidan's face as if he were afraid of what he might find there. He seemed to have realised that his comment hadn't gone down so well.

"Not ok?" He winced.

Kaidan shrugged trying to laugh it off and fumbled around for the words that he couldn't form seconds ago. "Trust me, the only thing that's getting me out of bed so fast is the desire to avoid adding to Joker's porn stash." Kaidan froze again. As soon as he'd said it he'd wanted to take it back, but he had absolutely no follow up to counter it. Not helpful. He desperately tried to think of some way to brush it off.

Shepard blinked at him, looking surprised. "Does that mean," he said, hesitantly, his tongue flicking out to wet his lips, colour rising in his cheeks. "That you were thinking of something porn worthy?"

Kaidan huffed out a laugh, desperately trying to find some way to laugh it off. Then he looked at Shepard looking down at him and realised that was not the look of someone who was freaking out because the person they'd been snuggling up to all night was hot for them. No, that was the look of someone who had just realised the person they'd been very intimately snuggled up to all night was hot for them and they planned to do something about it.

Soonish.

"What?" Kaidan's voice cracked.

Shepard switched on his com, a smile creeping onto his face. "Joker, how long is this extraction going to take?"

Kaidan frowned. Shepard couldn't be thinking what Kaidan thought he was thinking.

Joker ummed and ahhed for a second, making some calculations. "We'll have you out of there in no time, boss. Give us twenty."

"Right." Shepard grinned. "See you in twenty." Then he leant over and kissed Kaidan full on the mouth.

Kaidan was too stunned to react. Shepard was kissing him. Kaidan could feel the days worth of stubble scraping against his chin, the press of lips, Shepard's breath against his cheek as he exhaled.

He'd dreamed of this. Shepard above him, his weight pressing down on him. Frantic and desperate, slow and teasing.

Kaidan slid his hands up around Shepard, pulled him in tight, and kissed him back.

Shepard groaned softly. "Kaidan," he pulled away a little. "Do you really care," he kissed him again, "whether or not Joker uses this for porn?"

Kaidan tried to think about it, he didn't think he was much into exhibitionism, and the teasing would be extreme, but it was kind of hard to make a decision when Shepard was making a very good argument for screw it all, literally, by way of nibbling down the side of Kaidan's neck.

"It'll just be a heat map." It would already be obvious what was happening anyway. The teasing was going to happen. "I was kind of hoping this wouldn't be a one time deal though."

Shepard kissed him again. Kaidan could feel him smiling. "Good. That's good then. Let's go."

Kaidan laughed and wrapped a leg around Shepard's, manoeuvring so he could roll them both over. He switched his omni tool on so he could see Shepard laid out below him. "Ok."

 

***

 

There was no way to make getting dressed again at all comfortable. Kaidan's hard suit was like ice, and Shepard had ripped some skin off his fingertips picking it up because his hands had been sweaty when he touched it.

They helped each other pull on boots and gloves, snap clasps and fasten armour, incredibly familiar actions with a new sense of intimacy. They let their hands linger even though the touch couldn't be felt through their suits. Kaidan didn't want to let go, but they could hear the rescue mission going on outside their little cavern and they were getting ready to break through the hull.

Shepard picked up Kaidan's helmet, resting his arms on Kaidan's shoulders. He kissed Kaidan briefly, then let his forehead rest against Kaidan's. "Too bad we have to leave the MAKO behind, it would be a good memory to keep."

Kaidan barked out a laugh. "Oh God, you've got your first vehicle stashed away somewhere because you lost your virginity in it, don't you."

Shepard thumped him. "I do not!"

"But you wish you did." Kaidan laughed as Shepard dumped his helmet in his lap.

"I didn't even lose my virginity in a vehicle."

Kaidan went to grab Shepard again so he could convince him to give up those details, but Joker's voice came in over the comm, interrupting. "Ok guys, the roof is coming off. We couldn't come down right on top of you or we'd break the hull, so we'll be dragging you up the slope."

Shepard jerked Kaidan forward by the front of his hard suit and kissed him, lingering, then he shoved him back and pulled his helmet on.

Kaidan fumbled to do the same, then they tucked themselves down against the floor to avoid any potential falling debri. He gripped Shepard's gloved hand in his.

"We're clear Joker, rip it off."

"Yeah, no chance of opening the damn door. This thing is wrecked. Which leads me to ask, what the hell did you do to the MAKO?"

Shepard looked upwards incredulously. "I didn't do anything! There was a Thresher Maw!"

"And you drove towards it?" The vehicle jerked as the metal roof was peeled back, creaking and groaning.

Kaidan bit his lip, trying not laugh. Shepard elbowed him.

"There's barely any hull left," Joker said incredulously. "You could've frozen to death."

Shepard huffed, sitting up as the roof finally broke off and tipped sideways into the snow. "We're fine, Joker." He reached down and pulled Kaidan up as well.

"Yeah, I know, but, no wonder you guys had thank-god-we-survived sex."


End file.
